The planning commences

After years of waiting for the right time we're finally in the planning stages. Jane and I are planning on our own "Year in Provence". Some of the basics:

• Leave for France in February 2010 (after the guys return to UW after Xmas break).


• Rent an apartment somewhere in southern France (hey...we're still planning).


• Return a year later.

The planning is a little daunting. Going some place for a year is a lot different than going for a month (we did this in 2001) but we have great friends and family who are incredibly encouraging. That's a hint. We would REALLY appreciate your ideas. Some of the things we need to figure out....

Work

Ideally I (Jim) would like to work for a French company but the chances are slim and none. France has a high unemployment and their priority system is French first, EU citizens second, and then the rest. While Jane is a British citizen (and thus an EU citizen) I am simply "the guy on her arm" (I'm not complaining...it's a nice arm). The next best option would be to work for an American company that has a French office. This would be great but the state of the economy doesn't make this a likely possibility either. The third option is to work remote for a U.S. company in France. This seems attainable. As a contract software developer, I'm confident I can find somebody who'd be willing to have me work remote. I might have to lower my rate signficantly...but we're not going to France to become rich.

Jane might be able to find work but we haven't really thought about her prospects yet.

Housing in France

At this point we are pretty open about housing in France. For cost reasons it seems likely we'll end up in an apartment but if we could find a little house in the country that would be ideal. Of course, it needs to be a furnished apartment (and have broadband internet). My research so far suggests it is best to deal with an agent. The agent typically pockets a month's rent for the help but I think it is worth it. Having somebody remote, looking for us is great. The agent can also help us with the paperwork. Jane and are hoping to find one or two agents during our 2 week "exploratory" visit in September.

House in Saint Paul

This is where we're spending the most energy right now. We plan on renting our home in Saint Paul for the year. We hope to cover the cost of renting housing in France with the rental money. There are basically 2 problems to solve:

• How to find the renters
• How to manage the property while we are away

We're contacting some management companies to see what they offer and we've talked with some friends who've rented their home for a year. The management company wants 10% of the rental but they do the marketing and the management. The marketing-only companies are cheaper but we have to figure out how to handle the "landlord" issues while we are away. Some of our friends had a handy neighbor take care of the landlord duties. They paid him a fair wage and they knew they could trust him.

Transportation in France

This is also getting some energy right now. If we were going to Paris, transportation would probably be a non-issue. We'd take trains on weekend/day trips. Otherwise we'd have the Paris metro. However, we want to be in southern France. We realize from our month in St. Remy that motorized transportation is pretty important in this part of France. That said, it might be that a scooter would do. Here are our options thus far:

• Rent/Lease a car – NO…REDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE
• Buy a new car and then have it shipped home we return (referred to as (European delivery). We will, in fact, need another car when we return so this has some potential.
• Buy a used car (voiture d’ocassion).
• Buy a motorcycle. NO…NOT SAFE
• Buy a scooter that can seat 2. Good for short distances but not a real solution for x-france travel.
• Don’t buy anything. Bike, walk, and take a train.

A used car is the leading contender. The sage advice seems to be to buy from a dealer, not a private party (much easier to navigate the paperwork and have some confidence the car will be in decent shape). Googling "used cars Marseilles" shows lots of dealers.

Ca suffit! Il y aura beaucoup d'autre sujet la prochaine fois.